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China clinches 9th with 15-9 win over Scotland in U19 debut

COQUITLAM - China rode the strong faceoff play of Eric Wang, who was 19-for-22 on the draws, and a balanced offence en route to a 15-9 win over Scotland to clinch 9th place at the 2016 Federation of International Lacrosse (FIL) Under-19 Men's Lacrosse World Championship presented by Novus on Friday.

"We had a great tournament, I thought," said Coquitlam's Matthew McIlwrick, who had four goals and three assists in the win. "Everyone came together. We had a lot of practices going into this. We really gelled as a team, I'm really proud of how everyone battled for the whole tournament."

After defeating Scotland already in the round-robin, McIlwrick said the Chinese squad had a game-plan in place for the placing game.

"We were changing up the names of our plays a little bit, but other than that we just stuck to China lacrosse: ride hard, get to the middle, work hard and score some goals," he said. "My teammates were looking for me a little more than usual. Everyone was having their head up and we were all moving the ball well, so that went well."

It was a special experience for McIlwrick one of several local-area players in the 14-team tournament.

"I love it," he said. "Some of my buddies showed up today; they've shown up the whole tournament. It's been a great atmosphere around here and I love it."

McIlwrick will now prepare for school at the University of Pennsylvania in the fall, coached by Pat Myers of Team USA. He said he's grateful for the experience.

"Just being a teammate, learn from everybody, stay positive and have a good experience," he said.